STAYING CONNECTED BLOODY FRUSTRATING.

Byline: Redmond Carolipio Staff Writer

SOME GAMES can be called strange, weird, even insane. ``Killer 7'' is psycho.

Games that mess with your head usually fall into the realm of survival-horror, where gore and atmosphere combine to scare players into submission. But this artsy first-person shooter from Capcom plays out more like a twisted dream sequence, not an exercise in terror.

The game focuses on the mind of Harman Smith, an aged, wheelchair-using assassin armed with a big gun and seven personalities. Harman has the ability to physically manifest these personalities - all with the surname Smith - to carry out his assignments. These people do much of the shooting and killing, while Harman chills in a room asleep in his chair. Not exactly the typical action protagonist, but the world and people you face aren't exactly normal either.

Like any ensemble cast, each Smith personality possesses special abilities.

For instance, the overly aggressive Dan Smith can eradicate a nest full of enemies, but only Kevin Smith can turn invisible and navigate past a building security system. If any personality gets killed, Garcian Smith - the ``cleaner'' - can pick up and resurrect them.

While this may sound like a concept for teamwork, it really isn't. We learn in the game that none of the personalities have ever actually met each other, or even know of the others' existence. Instead of working hand- in-hand, the personalities can be switched at will, like tools.

But no matter who you pick, one thing's for certain - you'll see a lot of blood.

The manga-inspired ``Killer 7'' universe is overflowing with the red stuff. The personalities need it to heal and upgrade their abilities. One of the characters slashes her arm and sprays it all over barriers to eliminate them. And the enemies, when shot, either start leaking it all over the place or turn into a misty cloud (that's if you hit the sweet spot).

If all of this sounds confusing or strange, then you may understand the essence of the game. Almost every aspect of ``Killer 7'' will feel unfamiliar, and many times the game will test your sanity in very real ways.

Fon instance, instead of allowing players to roam freely with the thumbstick, players are asked to use two buttons to control character movement, essentially chaining the player to move only back and forth. To even get a shot at the enemies, you must first ``scan'' for them to rob them of their invisibility.

This adds a bit of tension as players are forced to look around madly to see where the enemy is coming from, but the tension erodes as this scanning counts for a healthy chunk of the action.

The game also sometimes puts you in spots where there simply isn't enough time to scan, aim at and shoot your enemies. This leads to the occasional cheap hit. Some of the game's puzzles are a little too simple, especially with someone available to drop hints.

``Killer 7's'' biggest weakness is its story. It doesn't have enough beef to justify the direction of its presentation. You'll spend too much time waiting for some grand theme to show itself, and it never happens. Seek and destroy. That's it.

``Killer 7'' could end up being one of those love-hate games, where some people welcome its style and attempts at innovation while others simply deem it too strange.

KILLER 7 - Two stars

Platform: GameCube, PS2.

Price: $49.99.

Rated: M for Mature (extreme language and violence).

In a nutshell: Gory ``Killer 7'' overflows with blood but weak story and clumsy controls overpower style and innovation.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

no caption (video game: ``Killer 7'')

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